As I mentioned in a few prior posts, for as long Mrs KB and I have been married, I have been a chassid of Rabbi Zev Cohen of Congregation Adas Yeshurun in Chicago. He has such a powerful and positive way of speaking which I find inspiring and I try to make his replay of his derashas for Shabbos Shuva (given on Hoshana Rabbah night) and Shabbos HaGadol (given on the motzei Shabbos of Chol HaMoed) every year.
As opposed to some of my prior recaps, this week's shiur was more of a parsha vort than a shmooze. However, same rules as usual apply, although I have not attempted to summarize the entire shiur, I have tried to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. (The actual shiur is available on line at www.adasyeshurun.com if you would like to hear the full shiur). Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Cohen.
Rabbi Cohen began the vort by quoting Rashi's explanation of Aharon being given the job of lighting the Menorah because was "depressed" (my choice of words) because neither he nor anyone from the tribe of Levi offered a sacrifice as one of the Nesi'im.
Rabbi Cohen noted that when the donations were first collected for the Mishkan, the Nesi'im were collected from last. However when it came to the Chanukas HaBayis - they were first in line to offer sacrifices. R' Cohen then borrowed from a modern technological tool, suggesting that if the Nesi'im were in a whatsapp group, they left out Aharon. Aharon was upset and Hashem answered him by saying, don't worry - you will light the Menorah.
R' Cohen observed that Rashi uses this as a means to answer the question of what the Menorah is doing here in the first place? The Menorah was lit before and who else could have lit the Menorah besides the Kohanim? Rashi's answer is - Hashem is telling you that this is Rosh Chodesh Nissan and this Mitzvah is greater than the Nesi'im.
R' Cohen then asked - did Shevet Levi have any role in Parshas Nasso? The answer is no. But then how is this meant to compensate Levi, when the tribe of Levi did not light the Menorah? Only the Kohanim were given the Mitzvah to light the Menorah! Were the Levi'im depressed about this as well?
R' Cohen answered by noting that immediately after the parsha of the Menorah, Aharon is instructed in Bamidbar 8:6 - קַ֚ח אֶת־הַֽלְוִיִּ֔ם מִתּ֖וֹךְ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְטִֽהַרְתָּ֖ אֹתָֽם - he is to take the Levi'im from among the Jewish people and purify them.
R' Cohen noted that on the first of Nissan, many things happened - the Mishkan was inaugurated, Nadav and Avihu died, the Nesi'im started bringing their sacrifices and the Levi'im started working in the Mishkan. Rabbi Cohen theorized that maybe the Levi'im were depressed on the first of Nissan and this was why they got the job today.
R' Cohen then said that he wanted to say something current - he had received many calls from people recently who were upset that people are not social distancing. He observed that many of these people are young and he even asked one if he knew that there was a president named Nixon (the boy said that he was not sure). He told the boy that Nixon coined a phrase called "the silent majority." Most people do the right thing, but there are some people who don't the right thing and they want everyone to know about it. He told the boy - most people are social distancing, but the ones who are not are vocal and want everyone to know they are not. This makes you feel left out.
Hashem said to Aharon - don't feel bad, what you are doing is the right thing. R' Cohen then theorized, we know Aharon felt left out, but maybe the Levi'im felt left out as well.
R' Cohen then said a thought from R' Shneur Kotler of Lakewood on Bamidbar 8:19 which states - וָֽאֶתְּנָ֨ה אֶת־הַֽלְוִיִּ֜ם נְתֻנִ֣ים | לְאַֽהֲרֹ֣ן וּלְבָנָ֗יו מִתּוֹךְ֘ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵל֒ - Hashem gave the Levi'im to Aharon to do the work for the Jewish people to atone for them. Rashi notes that the word Bnei Yisrael appears five times in the pasuk, like the five books of the Torah. R' Kotler explained that when the service was done by a Bechor, people were happy because everyone could have a family member do the service. A person may not be a bechor, but his father might be, or his brother, or even his son could be a bechor. But when it went to the Levi'im, the Jews felt cut off from the Mishkan. So Hashem said the words Bnei Yisrael five times, because everyone is connected to the Torah and the Torah is equivalent to working in the Mishkan. The Jews were being reassured that even though they could not serve if they were not Levi'im, they were still connected.
R' Cohen then wrapped it all together - Aharon started feeling upset because he was left out and was told that he would have a greater portion than the Nesi'im. The Levi'im were feeling excluded, so on that day they got the instruction that they would be working in the Mishkan. But what about the rest of the Jews? First they have a whatsapp group and they exclude the Levi'im, so the Levi'im feel bad and then they are given jobs. And then Klal Yisrael feels bad as having been excluded, so now they are told that the Torah is their mechanism to be included in the work done in the Mishkan.
R' Cohen then tied this into shuls - some shuls are now open, while others are still closed. Some have backyard minyanim and outdoor minyanim. Some shuls open one way and others another way. A person who does what they do because they are connected to the Torah, is doing the right thing. R' Cohen noted that the Telshe Yeshiva went to a camp to open and sent three pages of instructions about the rules for social distancing. Meanwhile Lakewood and many other Yeshivos are closed. But everybody has a role and we should be zoche to know what our role is. And one day when we come back to shul, when we all come back to shul, we should feel connected to Hashem and each other in shul.
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